Barrel conveyer



April 7, w42 A. J. scHENK BARREL CONVEYER Filed April .2, 1940 QSS Patented Apr. 7, 1942 UNITED STATES PAT ENT QFFICE BARREL coNvEYEa Adelbert. J. schenk, cincinnati, ohio, assignor teA The Alvey-Ferguson Company, Cincinnati, 0hi'oa corporation of Ohio Y Application Aprill 2, 1940, Serial No. 327,490 3. claims. y(c1. iss-189) invention relates tofim-proveinents in endless conveyors, principally of the single chain type,- particularly adaptable for the conveyance of barrels, or casks or kegs; the barrel being a doublieJ conoid having its' greater diameter in its center', the center generally being referred to as the bulge or bilge, with. a curved taper from the center' to the extremities, and for metal barrels in` addition apai'r of' spaced annular ribs, usually extending outwardly from theV center or bilge, presenting an article which cannot appropriately behandled'upon a chain conveyor having uniform nights.

rllhe barrel whens-et on its side is easilyy rolled, but due to: smaller diameters at its extremities, is: easily thrown out of balance and will sway f'ronr sidev to side. Asit is desirableto'A roll the barrels; on. their sides, at'- random, at anyppoint ont@Y thee continuously traveling conveyer, they therefore are rolled onto the conveyor in a-di'rection transverse torthe lineor direction of' travel of the` conveyor; As the barrel alightson the con veyer,l it'- will; be jarred', having a tendency to throw it: axially out of the line with the conveyor so' thatI one or.' both ends willi ride or slide upon I the: guide: orv guard rails, usually disposed, at oppo-r site sides of the conveyer', or maneuvered about as ther barrel'. is? conveyed, imposing additional loads and wear upon the conveyor equipment and effectingzinjury tof the barrel surfaces.

In existing conveyers'the:barrels, for one. type, arei supported by and: upon twoY parallel strands of chains, between which the barrel isY interposed which, multiplies the conveyer cost and has serious objections its: maintenance. A secondA type provides a single chain with uniformly spaced for the upper side' ofthe chain, presenting a pair of upwardly extending horns: at,- opposite sides of. the chain upon whichy the barrelis intended to rest, so that two adjacent pairs of hornsr are adapted, to. afford verticalY supports for thebarrel' at four pointsclear of the body portion of the chain with the center of gravity located between said four points, and relying upon a relative" self-adjustment of a pair of points by the pivotal-connection of the links of the chain about a vertical axis, to stabilize seating of the barrel on; said four points. Owing to the peculiar contour ofthe barrel, and under theprevailing practieeof rolling thebarrel sidewise upon the traveling conveyor, it has been experienced that the fou-r point-support condition in practice, is seldomrealized unless centered upon the four pointsinitially, which. itis difficult to performv byI rolling ther barrels: upon the: conveyor haphazardly and in no timed relation to the moving ights. It 1s capable of landing upon two points, and under the alighting jar swings to one side or the other so that-one end contacts and rides upon one of the side rails, from which position it cannot be self dislodged to become stabilized or centralized' in line with the travel of the chain to bring it into a four point support position.

According to the present invention, the chain may be of anywell known or conventional type, they chain construction being optional, having each. alternate link, designated as a main link, provided' at its underside with a shoe formed with an extended width of base for slidingly supporting the chain and for the chain assembly at regularly spaced intervals whenthe chain is employed' as a drag' chain. The chain may be equipped with rollers, which, however, adds materially to the cost. The main links and as companion with each shoe, for the upper side of the chain, alternately are provided with a crescent shapedor doubl'e point support, and a relatively iiat or shallow shaped comparatively large face support or centering plate. The ycrescent or double pointed attachmentA for every other main link will grasp two points on the barrel circumference, while the approximately flat or shallow broad faced plate provides a third point contact, leaving the barrel free to roll or shift to the center line of the plate or chain if out of line therewith, and thereupon stabilized centrally upon the chain.

It is an object of the invention to provide a chain conveyer for conveying barrels, each in a stabilized position to lie axially longitudinally with the center line of the conveyor, andv adapting the' barrels to be loaded'onto the conveyer at any' point by rolling the same sidewise thereon and electing a self-c'entrali'zing and stabilizationwith the center line of the chain.

Another object of the invention is to provide a-chain conveyor for barrels and the like articles,

adapting. the barrel to be supported free from the chain upon three points of contact, two` in spaced alignment crosswise of the chain, andv for thel third: upon ashallow faced support centrally of the chain, the latter to permit the barrel readily toshift by gravityy fromV an oi-center to a central and stabilizing position.

Another object of the invention is to provide a `chain conveyer for barrels, employing a conventional chain adapting Hight or barrel supporting fixtures to be removably applied to the links thereof, and at selected intervals, and alternately asaa laterali two point support and a centralizing platesupport at relatively dierent elevationsfor tion will be more fully apparent from a description of the accompanying drawing, in which: v

Figure 1 is a top plan view ofa section of the conveyer run.

Figure 2 is a side elevation of a portion of the conveyer run with the channel beam guideway shown in section.

Figure 3 is a cross section taken on line 3--3,V

Figure 2.

Figure 4 is an enlarged sectional view line 4 4, Figure 2.

Figure 5 is an enlarged sectional view similar to Figure 4, taken on line 5-'5,.Figure 2.

In the drawing, only a section of a barrel supporting run of the conveyer is illustrated, deemed as sulicient to exemplify the present invention, and of a construction for use when the conveyer is set into a floor. The forward and return runs of the conveyer preferably are relatively disposed to move about sprockets, rotating on la vertical axis, so that both runs'are in an upward active position. They, however, may be superposedy in a vertical plane, in which instance the return run, being in an inverted position, is idle.

The course or relation of the runs may follow any conventional practiceV most suitablefor a given installation, and the conveyerlikewise may be sustained upon a floor level. f

'I'he conveyer chain illustrated is of conventional type constituting, alternately, an integral link 7|,designated as a main link, with each of its opposite endsrespectively pivotally connected to a pair of connecting links 2, 2, disposed relatively at opposite sides or outward 'of the main link. Thelmain link I is in the form of an apertured bar, having its opposite ends 3, 3, of greater width than the opposite longitudinalfside portions, to each of which a pair of connecting links 2, 2, are pivotally connectedby a pin 4. 'I'he body portion of the main link has a longitudinal aperture therethrough, into which the chain and barrel supporting attachments are socket'edfor their connection to the main link. `The chain links in the present instance are disposed so that they are connected for pivotal movement about a vertical axis as offering adequate chain ilexibility when the strands or runs or both are relatively horizontal. AA universal connection may, however,.be interposed should the course of the runs so require.

'Ihe chain structure forming nopart of the present invention, itis recognized that' it may be composed of various specic forms of links and give equal service to the form illustrated, which, however, is of standard` type of which its parts for making repairs are readily available, and its selection primarily has been for that reason.

Each main link at its under side carries a' shoe 5 providing a flat faced base of extended width, affording a substantially slidingsupport for the chain. A shank 6 extends laterally or vertically taken on a framework extending above 2,279,207 I 4 j u end longitudinally is formed with a tenon 'I for making a mortise or socket connection with the aperture of the main link and bearing against the opposite lower edges ofthe link.

'I'he base surface of the shoe slides upon a wearing strip or rail 8 mounted within a strucv tural iron channel beam or guideway 9 suitably anchored to the base of the trough I 0 formed in the iloor when the conveyer is installed beneath the oor level; or when the conveyer is installed above the iloor, the channel 9 is usually fixed to the framework for the conveyer. The upper opposite edges of the trough are lined with structural angle bars II, Il, furnishing a curbing for the trough, and also serve as side guards or rails for .the conveyer. Guards correspondingly are provided when the conveyer is set directly on the floor, or when raised above the iloor following the usual practice for conveyers of this class.

The chain assembly shown in preferably contemplated for conveying the standard one-half barrel size of barrels used for packaging beer with the main links having a center spacing of approximately eight inches. Each vmain link in such instance at its upper side carries a barrel supporting attachment or fixture in companion connection with a shoe on the lower side thereof.

Two differently shaped types of Vbarrel supporting attachments or xtures` I2, I3, are em-l ployed; one of which, as attachment I2,`for each alternate link, is of crescent or arc shape to constitute a pair of uniform upwardly diverging horns or claws I4, I4, extending laterallyoflthe chain with their extremities providing two laterally aligned points above the chain for contact andV grasp on the barrel circumference. 'Ihe hollow or-arc inthe top side of the attachment is of a radius as indicated in Figure 5, smaller than from the upper side of the base, and its upper the smallest diameter at the opposite ends of the barrel, so that the barrel cannot seat or rest upon the hollow or arc. The fixture at its'lower side similarly tc the shoes is centrallyprovided longitudinally of the chain with a lateral shank ex`` tension, having a tenon formed on its outer end for making a mortise or socket connection with the aperture of the main link, and opposingly to the shoe and rigidly secured with the shoe to the link by a pair of bolts or rivets engaged therethrough and traversing the aperture in the link for claspingly binding the shoe and barrel `supportingvxture to the link. T

A` second barrel supporting attachment or ilxture I3 for each alternate main link orintermediate of a pair of ilxtures I2 comprises a relatively at or shallow longitudinally dishedf or concave plate of appropriate length, so asfto give the same an extended barrel receivingarea and guidingly direct to a centralized position with the chain when the barrel is deposited upon the conveyer. Y, The concavity in the upper or face side of the plate, as illustrated in Figure 4, is of a radius larger than thatof the largest diameter of the barrel, as at the bilge portion thereof, sothatlts extremities are devoid of oering any supporting points for the barrel. The radius on the centering plate is merely suilicient to permit a slight gravity barrel roll orshift to allow it `to self` cen-` ter with the center line of the chain, and there'- by provide acentral third point of contact as intermediate of the two pointsA of the adjacent crescent or horn-shaped fixture which support the barrel on points at an equal distance on either side of the chain while the third point of contact on the plate fixture will be directly over the chain.

The plate fixture I3 on its outer side is provided with a laterally extended shank similar to the fixtures I2 and shoes for a connection to a chain link and a companion with the shoe.

The central plane of the centering plate fixture I3 is preferably at a slightly lower elevation than the reach of the point extremities of the crescent shaped fixture to insure a two-point barrel sustaining contact with an extreme end of the barrel and avoid the plate fixture from becoming a sole support should the bilge of the barrel in loading upon the conveyer alight centrally on the plate fixture on account of the barrel having a curved taper toward its extremities or curved longitudinally. The smooth surface of the plate fixture will permit longitudinal movement of the barrel due to counter force imposed by the chain which is moving transverse to the alighting motion of the barrel upon a conveyer, so that there is no tendency to dislodge it from a two point contact with either a fore or aft crescent attachment I2, whichever one it engages, and as it is free to rock or shift laterally upon the plate xture, it will immediately establish itself to a central stabilizing position upon the plate xture.

In rolling the barrel onto the conveyer at any point, the shape of the lower or shallow plate attachment I3 allows the barrel to shift readily, and it finally becomes stabilized on three points after having aligned itself with the center line of the conveyer. This is because any three points of contact will stabilize it, and until the barrel shifts into position and finally contacts the high attachment, it does not stabilize. If the barrel is rolled on so that it hits the high attachment. then one end or the other of the barrel drops to the lower or shallow center attachment. When either end drops to the shallow attachment, it normally will hit the attachment in the center with just enough force to center it if it is not already centered. It is a known fact that any three points of contact or rest will stabilize an object. Therefore, enough play will be provided between the attachment and the barrels so that the barrels have a tendency to shift onto the center line of the chain before stabilizing on three points. On previous designs, attempts were made to keep the barrel from doing the shifting, with the result that whatever position the barrel had when it was rolled onto the conveyer, that position was maintained throughout its travel.

The relative alternate differential ights allow the barrels to shift as the supporting chain links round a curve, which moves the longitudinal axis of the barrel slightly out of line with the links,

and to self-correct its position to centralize with the chain as soon as the travelis again in a straightway course. This relative action was not possible with the uniform type of flights heretofore employed. Y

Having described my invention, I claim:

1. A conveyer chain for conveying barrels and the like, comprising: main links and connecting links pivotally united, a shoe respectively fixed to each main link for the under side of the chain to provide uniformly spaced sliding supports therefor, a crescent shaped fiight respectively fixed to each alternate main link for the upper side of the chain, each to'provide a pair of spaced points aligned laterally of the chain for partially supporting a barrel, and a second iiight respectively fixed to each alternate main link and intermediate of a pair of crescent shaped flights extending transversely of the chain and having its upper side formed to provide a bearing surface for its full width adapted with an adjacent crescent shaped flight to afford a tri-support for a barrel, the bearing'surface of said second flight being slightly concave laterally adaptingthe barrel to self-centralize itself with the center line of the chain.

2. A conveyer chain for conveying barrels and the like, having crescent shaped flights respectively fixed at uniform spacing apart to the upper side of the chain, each to provide a pair of spaced barrel supports aligned laterally of the chain for the partial suppport of a barrel, and second'ights respectively xed to the upper side of the chain at uniform spacing apart `and each intermediate of a pair of crescent shaped flights and extending transversely of the chain and having its upper side formed to provide a bearing surface for its full width to adapt it with an adjacent crescent shaped flight to afford a tri-support for a barrel, the second flight adapting the barrel to self-centralize itself with the center line of the chain.

`3. A conveyer chain for barrels and the like, having relative differential barrel supports in spaced `alternate arrangement extended above the chain, one having a pair of spaced claws for supporting the barrel at relative opposite sides of the chain, and a second barrel bearing surface extending transversely of and beyond the opposite sides of the chain and at a lower elevation than the supporting elevation of an adjacent pair of claws, and adapted therewith to afford a trlsupport for a barrel, the bearing surface of the second providing a self-centralization of the barrel with the chain.

ADELBERT J. SCHENK. 

